Developed by HRI Program Coordinator, Camila Dos Santos, M.Ed.
Tip 2: Find 2-3 routines or practices that comfort you when your emotions are at a high.
When things are tough, it’s important to have a couple of stress-relief practices that comfort you. Whether your go-to is active like kick-boxing or yoga, creative, like painting or restoring a piece of furniture, contemplative such as meditation or journaling, or a combination of these and others, it’s important to know what works for you when things are particularly difficult.
Developed by HRI Program Coordinator, Camila Dos Santos, M.Ed.
During tough times, it can be even harder to cope with the emotional and physical repercussions of feeling increased stress. In this series, we will provide tips to cope with stress during tough times.
Our first tip in our Coping with Stress During Tough Times series is to spend tech-free time outdoors. There are many health benefits to spending time outdoors, including feeling happier and less stressed.
If you decide to spend this time alone, try practicing mindfulness by taking in the sounds and sights around you. If you’re spending time with a loved one outside, you can exercise together or enjoy an afternoon snack or picnic.
Whether you’re alone or in the company of others, avoid bringing your devices. Not only will this help you stay mindful and present, it will also help you stay intentional about using this time to engage in activities that reduce stress and promote emotional balance and wellbeing.
Check out our latest HRI resource: an E-Book on Celebrating Fatherhood!
Fathers play a critical role in their children’s development, and this E-Book is designed to help you celebrate the fathers in your life. Equipped with tips and insights to help the father in your life feel special and appreciated, this free E-Book can be downloaded by clicking here.
This E-book was designed by Bringing Out the Best at UNC Greensboro utilizing resources developed by the Healthy Relationships Initiative.
“To be kind is more important than to be right. Many times, what people need is not a brilliant mind that speaks, but a specialheart that listens.” – unknown
In healthy relationships, kindness and listening are more important than being right. Next time that someone you love talks to you about something you may have disagreed on, give them a listening ear and an open heart, even if you were right about the conflict.
You may find that it’s exactly what your loved one needs in the moment and exactly what is needed to strengthen the relationship.
Developed by HRI Program Coordinator, Camila Dos Santos, M.Ed.
Taking time to have intentional conversations at the dinner table can be an effective way to connect with one another in a natural way. It is human nature to open up more when we are focusing on another task, such as eating, so the dinner table can be a great place to effectively talk about both strengths and issues in relationships or families!
Some questions to help you get the conversation going at dinner can include:
Is there anything you need to talk about today?
What was the best part of your day? The worst?
If you could re-do anything from today, what would it be?
What was something funny that you saw or heard today?
What did you learn today?
Add a little fun to your dinner table discussions by placing a jar at the table and asking each family member to submit 2-3 questions. Then, allow each person to randomly pick a question to answer or ask.
If your family does not typically eat together at the dinner table, you can start by setting a goal to eat together once a week. Once you start to feel the benefits of intentional conversation in a comfortable setting like the dinner table, you may find that you’ll want to do it more often!
Developed by HRI Program Coordinator, Camila Dos Santos, M.Ed.
Having conversations as a family helps to promote open communication amongst all family members, while also helping to build connection and closeness. Parents who model effective communication for their children are more likely to raise young adults who know how to express their emotions and needs in a respectful way.
Today’s conversation starters are helpful for the entire family, especially siblings:
What do you love the most about your sibling?
What is one thing you could each do to make your relationship better?
What types of family conflicts do you think we tend to have?
What three words would you use to describe our family?
Developed by HRI Program Coordinator, Camila Dos Santos, M.Ed.
People in healthy relationships enjoy each other’s company and have fun together. However, sometimes life can get in the way of prioritizing fun and leisure in our partner relationships.
One way to help make sure that you both make time for fun and leisure is to talk about it as a couple!
Today’s conversation starters will get you both talking about how and when to have fun as a couple:
How does your partner add fun to your life?
What fun and leisure activities do you or could you do together?
What is the most fun experience you have shared with your partner?
What can we do during busy times to ensure we are making time for our relationship?
What is your favorite thing to do when you spend time with me?
Developed by HRI Program Coordinator, Camila Dos Santos, M.Ed.
Most relationship experts will agree that healthy relationships are not free of conflict. One of the factors that sets healthy relationships apart from unhealthy ones is how the people in that relationship resolve their conflict. People in healthy relationships will work together and treat the problem as their own, rather than placing blame or not taking accountability for their part in the conflict.
However, conflict resolution is a skill that many of us will spend our lives improving and working on. One way to work on conflict resolution in your relationship is to talk about your conflict resolution style and how you can work together to communicate through issues.
The following questions may spark conversations that help you both reflect on your conflict resolution style and how you can improve together:
What could we do to resolve conflicts more smoothly in our relationship?
What were your parents’ conflicts like?
Do you prefer to resolve conflicts right away, or do you prefer to cool down first? Why?
What is one thing you can do to improve communication in our relationship?
Remember to focus on one question at a time when having these conversations. Talking about multiple issues or concerns at the same time can lead to confusion, conflict, and can stir up many emotions for both partners. You can always revisit this list when you’d like to discuss a different question!
Las relaciones tienen el potencial de ser una fuente de gran gozo y apoyo en nuestras vidas, pero requieren trabajo e intencionalidad para ser sanos, felices, y seguros. Los conjuntos de herramientas de HRI están diseñados para ofrecerle ideas para fortalecer sus relaciones. Esta serie de conjuntos de herramientas se centran en las relaciones de pareja, las familias con niños pequeños, y las relaciones saludables de los adolescentes.
Relationships have the potential to be a source of great joy and support in our lives, but they require work and intentionality in order to be healthy, happy, and safe. HRI Toolkits are designed to offer you a set of tools to strengthen your relationships. This set of toolkits focuses on partner relationships, families with young children, and healthy teenage relationships.
